What is AFib?
When your heart is working correctly, it contracts and relaxes in a regular rhythm. If your heartbeat speeds up or becomes irregular, you may be experiencing atrial fibrillation, says Justin Partin, an advanced practice nurse at Washington Regional Cardiovascular Clinic, part of the Washington Regional Walker Heart Institute.
"Atrial fibrillation, or AFib, is an irregular heart rate in which the atria, or top chambers of the heart, and the ventricles, or lower chambers of the heart, are not beating in synch," Partin explains. "The atria chambers are actually beating in a much more rapid rate than the ventricles."...